A Fantastic Idea
by Theodore Barrington
Summary: Mr. Men Fanfic. After reading one too many comic books, Mr. Daydream decides to set up his own superhero group.


When the sun shines brightly over Dillydale, the small town is a buzz with the Mister Men and Little Miss' bustling about, going about their daily duties. Well most of them. And when the sun goes down and the stars are twinkling brightly in the sky, each Little Miss and Mr. Man goes to bed, storing energy so that they can do the same the next day. Well most of them.

The one house that was still lit belonged to Mr. Daydream. As his name suggested, he absolutely loved imagining all sorts of different things. Even though it was late, he just couldn't stop reading. He was half way through a _Fantastic Four_ comic he'd borrowed from Mr. Quiet's library when he had an idea. What if he were to assemble his own group of super-heroes, fighting crime, saving lives and all-round do-gooding. Of course, he wouldn't actually be in it, he had no special abilities, but perhaps he could organize something….

The next day, Mr. Daydream went to see his good friend Mr. Happy. Mr. Happy was everyone's good friend and like his sister Little Miss Sunshine, was always optimistic and had a cheerful disposition. Some people suspected he kept a ready supply of nitrous oxide on hand, others maintained it was amphetamines. As always, Mr. Happy was delighted to see Mr. Daydream and was perhaps unnaturally enthusiastic about the plan.

"Ha! Yes, yes, yes! That is a wonderfully splendid idea!" cried Mr. Happy, and thumped the table exuberantly. After bursting into a quick song and dance number, he began to help his friends make the preparations.

***

Three days later -with permission from the Lady Mayor Reagan- Mr. Daydream and Mr. Happy used the town hall to host their event. They put up fliers all over town with help from Little Miss Sunshine and Little Miss Helpful and made a banner to hang outside, reading:

**SUPER-HERO TRY-OUTS TODAY!**

**DOORS OPEN 9AM-4PM!**

**NO DISCRIMINATING, ALL WELCOME!**

**FREE TEA AND CRUMPETS PROVIDED!**

Mr. Daydream and Mr Happy sat behind a table as the official judges. Sitting also with them was Mr. Rude, because they thought might help provide an unbiased critical point-of-view. And no-one was more critical than Mr. Rude.

"Now look here you little blue powder-puff," he said in his thick French accent. "I am not here because I support your stupid little plan. I am here only for the money which you promised."

"Okay," replied Mr Daydream, who wasn't really paying attention.

"But unless my conditions are met, I am out of here. Firstly, you do not question my judgements."

"Uh-huh."

" Secondly, I get full access to the tea and crumpets."

"Whatever you say."

"And finally, I want you to keep that grinning idiot away from me," Mr Rude finished, pointing at Mr. Happy, over by the Urn, who turned and waved cheerily at them.

"Yes I'm sure that's all very well Mr. Rude, but don't you think we ought to let the people who are trying out in?" asked Mr. Daydream, snapping out of his reverie.

At precisely two minutes past nine, the doors were opened and their first person came in.

"Good morning," said Mr. Happy.

"Hi there," said Mr. Daydream.

Mr. Rude muttered something unintelligible.

"Name?" asked Mr. Daydream.

"Good grief, Mr. Daydream, I thought you already knew who I was. Don't you recognize me?"

"Oh…right…sorry Mr. Greedy. You may begin."

"Begin?" asked the one known as Mr. Greedy.

"Yes begin," affirmed Daydream. "You know….demonstrating your powers for us."

"Powers?"

"Well…yes. These are super-hero tryouts after all. Surely you have some incredible powers to show us."

"Oh. I didn't really pay much attention to that bit. I really only came along for the free grub."

Mr. Rude stood up. "And just what do you mean by this? Wasting my precious time! You great big tub of lard! Get out now!"

Mr. Greedy looked dejected and began to shuffle out.

"Those crumpets aren't going to eat themselves you know," said Mr. Happy. "Help yourself."

Perking up considerably at the mention of food, Mr. Greedy grabbed a whole tray and left.

A few minutes later, in walked a red, broad-shouldered man. It was none other than Mr. Strong.

Mr. Rude turned to Mr. Daydream. "Must we really consider this meat-headed Neanderthal?"

"Shh…we probably shouldn't make him mad. We might not like him then," Daydream whispered back. Then he turned to the new comer. "Name?"

"Uh….Mr. Strong"

"What can you do?"

"Just watch."

Mr. Strong went over to the table holding all the refreshments and with one hand, lifted it with ease, urn, cups, crumpets and even the little sugar sachets. Placing it down gently he turned and looked at the three judges to hear their opinion.

Mr. Happy clapped appreciatively. "Bravo, dead handy that! I say we let him join."

"Indeed," agreed Mr. Daydream. "Strength such as yours will be a most valuable asset."

Mr. Rude said nothing for a while. Then, with a devious smile, he posed a question to Mr. Strong.

"Tell me, do you know what two plus two makes?"

Mr. Strong thought long and hard. Finally he came up with an answer. "Uh…five?"

Rude flashed a triumphant grin. "I told you, he is a big lummox. A total imbecile."

"That isn't a nice thing to say Mr. Rude," said Happy.

"Even so," continued Daydream, "Shall we let him join?"

Rude shrugged. "Why not? It might be amusing."

Mr. Strong beamed.

***

The rest of the tryouts, while numerous, were disastrous.

Mr. Lazy fell asleep while trying to read Mr. Rude's mind.

Poor old Mr. Forgetful forgot what he was going to show them (naturally) and bashfully went home. Of course, if it hadn't been for Little Miss Helpful, he'd probably still be wandering the streets of Dillydale.

Little Miss Somersault's acrobatic routine was going well…until she back-flipped through the window. Which was closed.

Mr. Nonsense and Mr. Silly were thrilled to present the panel their good friend Mr. Intangable. Mr. Happy was impressed, but Mr. Rude was sceptical.

"There's no-one there!"

Little Miss Decibel tried to demonstrate her sonic scream, only to be waylaid by a bad case of hiccups.

Then there was the unfortunate incident with Little Miss OMG Seizure-Time and the aptly named Mr. Epileptic.

There was someone that showed some promise however. Mr. Oh-My-Flipping-Goodness-That-Guy-Is-Absolutely-Expletive here-Huge (although that was a slight exaggeration and he _was_ after all the youngest of his family), and even Mr. Rude seemed to approve of him. But alas, he was merely emptying the trash.

"How much longer must we endure this torture?" moaned Rude eventually.

"I feel quite light headed myself," said Mr. Daydream.

"That wouldn't be a first," muttered Rude.

"Chins up lads!" said Mr. Happy, "Only three more to go."

"Who've we got?" asked Rude.

Mr. Happy looked out the door.

"Little Miss Magic, Mr. Tickle and Mr. Rush," he reported.

"Bring them in then," said Daydream.

"This way please," Mr. Happy beckoned, leading the three inside.

They lined up in front of the panel. Mr. Daydream walked over and looked them up and down.

"Hmm….yes….most interesting." He stopped in front of Mr. Tickle. "Tickle….how far can you stretch your arms?"

The orange Irishman scratched his chin. "Well I'd say a good fifty feet upon average. Sixty on a particularly good day."

"And can you stretch anything else other than your arms?"

"Well my legs can stretch too. I don't use them much as they're not real good for tickling with."

"Excellent. You're in!" said Mr. Daydream then turned to Little Miss Magic. "And am I right in assuming that you can turn invisible?"

Little Miss Magic nodded. "Piece of cake. I can also walk through walls if you like."

Mr. Daydream was delighted with this. Rude seemed to have no qualms about signing them up nor did Mr. Happy.

"Now Mr. Rush…", began Daydream but was cut off.

"Thatsmynamedon'twearitout," babbled Mr. Rush. "I'mextremlyfast,yessirebobinfacttoproofitrightnowi'llraceovertothelibraryandborrowoutabookforya." With that he vanished, only to reappear seconds later. All anyone had felt was a quick rush of air. Although the crumpets were now all stacked together in one great big pile, the urn emptied and tipped upside down and a Stephen King novel was now in Daydream's hand.

"Wellwhaddayathink?"

The judges were flabbergasted. Eventually Daydream spoke.

"Your speed is certainly most impressive, however, I was sort of looking for something different."

"Ehcomeagain?"

"That is to say, I choose to model this team on the Fantastic Four. I adore those comics. We already have Mr. Strong to be the muscle of the team, like the Thing, Mr. Tickle can stretch like Mr. Fantastic and Little Miss Magic can turn invisible, like ….er…Invisible girl. I was sort of hoping that you could burst into flames."

"Wellicantdothatbutiamveryfast!"

"Sorry," said Daydream apologetically.

"Oh," said Rush and seemed to slow down a considerable amount.

"I could use a spell to set him on fire if you like," Little Miss Magic helpfully suggested.

"No I don't think that will be quit necessary thank you. But do take heart Mr. Rush. I'll but you on the substitute list. If someone gets injured or the rest of the team is captured, I'll be sure to call you in."

At this Rush smiled again, tipped his hat and took off.

Mr. Daydream sent the others home. Mr. Rude also left as he didn't want to help pack up. Mr. Happy decided to use the urn to store the leftover crumpets for Mr. Greedy. His blue companion was struggling to get the ladder up so that he could retrieve the banner when he was surprised by a sudden noise, like a cork being removed from a bottle. When the accompanying puff of smoke disappeared, he saw a purple man with a blue top hat and holding a black cane. This was Mr. Impossible. He was not often seen in Dillydale, but whenever he showed himself, strange things began to happen around town. A cat for example, would inexplicably know how to pick up a violin and play. Dog would begin laughing uproariously at unfunny and often inappropriate times and objects such as cutlery that would usually be inanimate would suddenly become very lively.

Such was the way of Mr. Impossible.

"Hello Daydream," he said, "Having a little trouble then are we?" Without waiting for a reply, Mr. Impossible clicked his fingers and the banner unhooked itself and began to float to the ground where it rolled itself up.

Daydream shook his head. "You never cease to amaze. So what brings you here?"

"Well I thought I'd toddle on down and have a squiz at this hero thing I heard you were running. I'm sorry I'm late but I was up in Antarctica, rebuilding glaciers and I must have lost track of time."

"Oh that's quite alright Mr. Impossible. You know we could use someone of your talents on the team. Can you burst into flame and shoot fireballs from your hands?"

"Would you like blue flames or orange?"

"Oh excellent. You're in."

"I thought I might be," said Mr. Impossible and teleported away.

Mr. Daydream shrugged, picked up the banner and carried it inside, whistling merrily.

Afterall, he now had a team of superheroes. Just like the Fantastic Four.


End file.
